Can lack of sleep kill you?

Question

I heard it does, but how?

Answer 1

I've never heard of anyone dying through lack of sleep

Answer 2

A good way to understand the role of sleep is to look at what would happen if we didn't sleep. Lack of sleep has serious effects on our brain's ability to function. If you've ever pulled an all-nighter, you'll be familiar with the following after-effects: grumpiness, grogginess, irritability and forgetfulness. After just one night without sleep, concentration becomes more difficult and attention span shortens considerably.

With continued lack of sufficient sleep, the part of the brain that controls language, memory, planning and sense of time is severely affected, practically shutting down. In fact, 17 hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.05% (two glasses of wine). This is the legal drink driving limit in the UK.

Research also shows that sleep-deprived individuals often have difficulty in responding to rapidly changing situations and making rational judgements. In real life situations, the consequences are grave and lack of sleep is said to have been be a contributory factor to a number of international disasters such as Exxon Valdez, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and the Challenger shuttle explosion.

Sleep deprivation not only has a major impact on cognitive functioning but also on emotional and physical health. Disorders such as sleep apnoea which result in excessive daytime sleepiness have been linked to stress and high blood pressure. Research has also suggested that sleep loss may increase the risk of obesity because chemicals and hormones that play a key role in controlling appetite and weight gain are released during sleep.

Answer 3

Don't ever take the sleeping pills route!!

1. They will damage your liver big time and you can get into serious health problems.

2. You will get hooked up on them and you won't be able to have a normal life any more if you don't take your pills everyday.

The sleeping pills industry is damaging our health by capitalizing on our ignorance, and by distracting people from effective and natural ways to deal with this problem. I had been taking prescription sleep medications [Ambien] for over 5 years. It stopped working and I simply took more. Still did not work. Nights were very difficult - medication put me to sleep but I would wake up after 2–3 hours with a strong sympathetic response (fast pulse, pounding heartbeat, wide awake alert). It was a very difficult cycle to break. I was really in bad shape due to lack of sleep.

After years of struggling I was able to cure my insomnia naturally and pretty fast. I followed the Sleep Tracks sleep optimization program, here is their official web -site if you want to take a look: http://www.insomniacure.net

Ohhh..and Good Luck!

Answer 4

I have heard that hunger kills you in 14 days, lack of sleep 9 days! Apparently scientists have tried these two tests on two separate people at the same time and apparently the guy who was deprived of sleep became like a zombie on day 9.

Answer 5

yes if you are a rat, and i suspect that it COULD kill a human, but there are no known cases of it, WIKI says:

There are no documented cases of a healthy human dying from total sleep deprivation (excluding accidents), aside from those suffering from fatal familial insomnia. In carefully monitored experiments, several normal research subjects stayed awake for 10 days. While they all experienced cognitive deficits in memory, concentration, etc., none of them experienced serious medical, neurological, physiological or psychiatric problems .[10]. Total sleep deprivation in rats leads to death in around 28 days. Death occurs later[citation needed] if only REM sleep is eliminated. In humans, extended sleep deprivation causes "microsleep" sessions to develop. A person who has fatal familial insomnia may die after several months with no sleep at all; people without this condition may experience dementia or develop permanent personality changes within the first few weeks.

Answer 6

yes.

when you sleep, it is a time for your body to recharge, repair and renourish.

if you don't sleep for a period of time, you feel drowsy, over the long run if you get less than 8 hours of sleep your immune system goes down and you become prone to cold and flu etc.

however, if you don't sleep at all over a few days it can kill you as your heart stops. Heart rate actually decreases during sleep and it is a time for your heart to rest. if you don't sleep at all.. your heart beats faster to keep you awake, thus killing you when it gives up. Heart attacks also more likely to happen to people who lack alot of sleep over long periods.

Answer 7

My wife says it will....if i don't roll over and quit snoring or go to the couch, she swears she can't sleep a wink and that i'll find myself eating a pillow. ;) Seriously i doubt whether one CAN go that long without sleep. I went for 3 days and nights once without sleep out of necessity, working nights, and on the third night i literally was falling asleep standing up with my eyes open. They had a taxi take me home.

Answer 8

I don't know how but i believe it! I've not had a decent nights sleep in about 9 weeks and mentally i'm ready to shut down but the body has yet to comply!

Answer 9

No, I dont think so, but it probably wouldnt do you or anyone in your company much good either.
Crikey I get really crabby if I dont get a least 6 hours deep sleep each night.

Answer 10

I once failed to sleep properly, or some periods at all, for two months straight. Worst period of my life - and I was in a horrible living situation as well.
It makes you psychotic - I was suicidally depressed.
I told the person driving me to work to drive me right to the hospital, where I committed myself, and received meds to help me sleep.